Architectural jewels of France – gracious living

Vaux-le-Vicomte, the largest privately owned château in France

From elegant town houses to lavishly decorated Châteaux, France boasts luxury properties in all shapes and sizes. The aristocratic residences around Paris and the Loire Valley are internationally famous, but high-end houses pop up all over the country. Gillian Thornton explores some of the most fascinating architectural jewels of France.

Romans and Medieval

Luxury living did not start with the Renaissance. In the golden age of the Roman Empire, well-to-do citizens lived in sprawling villas with intricate mosaic floors and interior courtyards. Imagine their lifestyle through artefacts and reconstructions at NarboVia museum in Narbonne in Occitanie; amongst the Roman remains at Vaison La Romaine in Provence; and at the museum and archeological site of Saint-Romain-en-Gal in the Rhône Valley.

When the Romans left, standards slipped a bit, but by the Middle Ages, many French fortresses included comfortable apartments for the lord and lady of the manor. Discover the daily life of the Dukes of Normandy at Falaise Castle, birthplace of William 1 of England, through computer-generated images and films.

Nor did you have to be a duke to be comfortable. The 14^th century Donjon de Bours in Pas de Calais is a sandstone tower house with six turrets fringed by the remains of the original moat. A rare example of a knight’s residence, the interior display shows daily life during the Hundred Years War between England and France.

Living it up by the Loire

But the big surge in grand residences began in the late 15^th century with the start of the French Renaissance, inspired by the art and culture movement in Italy. French kings began to build royal palaces in the Loire Valley, preferring to spend their time in the clean air and countryside rather than in Paris. And where royalty went, so the aristocracy followed, building sumptuous properties of their own.

Favourite residence of seven kings and ten queens, the Royal Château at Blois is the perfect introduction to the French monarchs and their lifestyle with its four wings from different periods. Experience the interior styles through augmented reality on a HistoPad tablet, also available at the Château de Chambord. Commissioned by 16^th century King François I as a party palace, this vast turreted castle was only furnished when the monarch arrived to host hunting parties and balls. Louis XIV stayed at Chambord in the 17^th century and today the Royal Apartments are decorated in 18^th century style.

Every Loire Valley Château, large and small, has its own USP. The Château de Cheverny, for instance, has always been occupied, so its ornate interior contains furnishings and collectables from many different periods. More modest in size but thoroughly magical with its turrets and moat, the fairy tale castle of Azay-le-Rideau celebrated its 500^th anniversary in 2025.

And the Renaissance exterior of Château de Candé hides an early 20^th century interior commissioned by American industrialist Charles-Eugène Bedaux. Stone balcony look familiar? Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor married at Candé in 1937, posing for photos at the top of the exterior stairs. Step inside to visit the scene of this historic wedding and discover the secrets of Wallis’s wardrobe.

Grand Designs

Perhaps inevitably, the largest properties cluster around the capital, some built from scratch, others the result of major remodelling across the centuries. Some had royal owners, others imperial, whilst a few grand houses personified the aspirations of upwardly mobile owners, such as Nicolas Fouquet, Finance Minister to the young Louis XIV.

Fouquet held a lavish party at his new home, Vaux le Vicomte, set in an extravagant landscaped park south-east of Paris, but far from being impressed, his royal boss was insanely jealous. Fouquet was imprisoned on fraud charges and Louis employed Fouquet’s architect and garden designer to build him something even better, the palace we now know as Versailles, west of the capital.

*Stunning décor and furnishings at the Palace of Fontainbleau*

The ‘Sun King’ commissioned an enormous palace and park, the ultimate in 17^th century bling as befitted a style-obsessed court that followed the monarch’s every whim. Anything but homely in atmosphere, it is nevertheless one of France’s must-see Châteaux. So too is the Palace of Fontainebleau, a royal residence from the Middle Ages to the 19^th century. Renaissance king François 1 turned the town’s medieval castle into an Italianate royal palace that became an Imperial palace after the Revolution and, in 1814, was the scene of Napoleon 1’s abdication.

North of Paris, the vast Château of Compiegne also had a royal pedigree, built by Louis XV and Louis XVI, but remodelled under Napoleon I and Napoleon III. Visit the lavish apartments of the First and Second Empire that contain many of the original furnishings and imagine yourself as one of the 100 guests invited every autumn by Napoleon III for a month of hunting, excursions and concerts.

Further afield

There are enough castles around Paris and the Loire to delight the most enthusiastic heritage fan, but every region has its own desirable properties. Between Paris and la Loire, the valley of le Loir is home to the sumptuous Château du Lude, a medieval fortress that was transformed into a Renaissance stately home and further enhanced in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Owned by the same family for more than 260 years, the house, garden and park offer a real family day out.

Normandy too is rich in stylish homes, some containing unexpected gems. The elegant 18^th century Château de Vendeuvre houses the largest collection of miniature furniture in the world, displayed in scale-model room sets. More than 700 small pieces including inlaid wardrobes, grandfather clocks and even an ornate cat bed.

Other properties have unique stories to tell. In 1386, Château de Carrouges was the scene of the last legal duel ordered by the High Court of Justice in Paris, a story of honour brought to the big screen by Ridley Scott in his 2021 movie The Last Duel starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer.

And the Château d’Eu on the Normandy coast was the favourite summer residence of King Louis-Philippe. Here he twice welcomed Queen Victoria, first British monarch to visit France since Henry VIII. Visit the historic scene of the first entente cordiale and stroll through the park and formal gardens.

Desirable plots

Châteaux frequently stood in large, wooded parks, but some are renowned for the size and intricacy of their formal gardens. Villandry in the Loire Valley is internationally famous, replanted in the early 20^th century to showcase French garden art across the ages through seven themed gardens. Expect geometric planting, topiary, water features and a whole lot more.

And at the Château de Chenonceau, recall the lives of two royal ladies as you walk amongst the topiary and flowers. Two contrasting gardens were created in the 16^th century for Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henri II, and later by his wife Catherine de’ Medici who reclaimed the Château from Diane on her husband’s death. Floral displays inside the Château are all assembled from home-grown blooms.

But few castle gardens enjoy quite as much sunshine as the pink and white Belle Epoque property of Château d’Ephrussi de Rothschild. Overlooking the Mediterranean at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, its lavish interior is matched by nine themed gardens where fountains dance to music and every turn in the path offers a new view. House and garden envy off the scale!

By Gillian Thornton, one of the UK’s leading travel writers and a regular writer for The Good Life France Magazine and website.